Catholic hospitals help quake victims in Lombok, Bali

By Catholic News Service

8/07/18

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Catholic hospitals in Indonesia have sent
medical teams to treat hundreds of people injured by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake
that struck the tourist island of Lombok near Bali Aug. 5.

The death toll stood at 105 by mid-afternoon Aug. 7 with 236
injured, ucanews.com reported. Officials expected the death toll to rise as Muslims
were yet to be pulled from a mosque that collapsed while they were praying
inside.

Officials said most of the casualties were caused by falling
rubble as buildings collapsed. There were no reported foreigners among the
dead, but some media reports claimed several fatalities in the neighboring Gili
Islands.

Thousands of buildings were damaged, and several thousand people
were forced to flee their homes, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency
reported.

In the Gili Islands, an archipelago popular among backpackers, an
estimated 2,000 or more people were being evacuated after spending a
nerve-wracking night camped atop a mountain.

"Medical workers are really needed right now to treat the
victims," Sister Paulina, a member of the Congregation of Missionary
Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit and spokeswoman St. Anthony Catholic
Hospital in the provincial capital of Mataram, told ucanews.com Aug. 7.

She said the hospital had treated more than a dozen victims.

"We placed them in the hospital's parking area as the
situation was unpredictable, aftershocks continued to happen," Sister
Paulina said. "This morning we took them to the hospital's treatment
rooms."

More than 176 aftershocks were recorded following the quake. The
Aug. 5 temblor was the second major earthquake to shake Lombok in a week. A
July 29 quake caused 14 deaths and dozens of injuries.

Sister Paulina said the hospital sent a team of nurses to the
government-run hospital in West Nusa Tenggara province to provide further
assistance and make sure those seeking refuge have temporary shelter.

"Many volunteers have contacted me and asked if we need any
help. I told them that medical teams are what I need the most. I need
orthopedics and neurologists," she said.

The Catholic hospital is working with St. Vincent de Paul
Catholic Hospital in Surabaya, East Java province, she added.

Dr. Agung Kurniawan Saputra, who works at the Surabaya hospital,
said three nurses were sent to St. Anthony Hospital a day after the quake and
they will remain in Lombok for at least a week.

"This morning we sent (another) doctor and a nurse," he
told ucanews.com Aug. 7.

"If possible, they will go to those areas affected by the
quake in cooperation with local authorities from today."